Hair cover for protecting a wearer&#39;s hair while sleeping

ABSTRACT

A hair cover for protecting a wearer&#39;s v-shaped hairdo while sleeping having two fabric chambers, one dome-shaped and the other v-shaped.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/388,400 filed on Sep. 30, 2010, the entire contentsof which is hereby incorporated herein by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to garments and moreparticularly to hair covers used to protect a wearer's hair whilesleeping.

BACKGROUND

The fundamental purpose underlying existing hair covers or sleeping capsis to protect a wearer's hair while the wearer is sleeping. Hair coverscan be found in various shapes, sizes, and materials to provide suchprotection. Unfortunately, existing hair covers lack other importantfeatures because those features are at odds with the fundamental purposeof protecting a wearer's hair. One such feature is environmentalfriendliness. Consumers are increasingly looking for green products.Existing hair covers, particularly those manufactured from highlyregarded silk or satin materials, are not biodegradable and thus areconsidered harmful to the environment after they are no longer usableand they are thrown away. Compounding this problem is the fact that manyhair covers lack durability. For example, many silk hair covers cannotbe washed, and hair covers manufactured from other materials known toprovide a high level of protection to the wearer's hair can lose theirintegrity if washed too often or incorrectly. Therefore, dirt, grime,oils, and greases can accumulate on the hair cover and requirereplacement before the hair cover otherwise loses its ability toprotect.

Moreover, existing hair covers are not well adapted to deal with thegrowing trend of wearers having long braided hair, natural andsynthetic, with a V-shaped body. Many existing hair covers, such as onedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,948,190, have a straight edged bottom andthus offer little or no support for the edges along the V-shape.Therefore, a durable hair cover that protects a wearer's hair and theenvironment and meets the growing trend of long, braided hair having aV-shaped body is desirable.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects and embodiments of a hair cover for protecting awearer's hair while sleeping are described. In one aspect, an upperfabric chamber having a generally domed shape is positioned on awearer's head. A lower fabric chamber depends from the upper fabricchamber and includes a generally V-shaped pocket for receiving andprotecting a generally V-shaped body of hair. The upper fabric chamberhas an elastic band secured to the periphery of an opening in the upperfabric chamber with a fastener such that the fastener does not contactthe hair.

In another aspect, a method for making a hair cover is described. Afabric used to make a hair cover includes an upper fabric portion usedto form the upper fabric chamber and a lower fabric portion used to formthe lower fabric chamber. The lower fabric portion depends from theupper fabric portion. The lower fabric portion includes a left portion,a right portion that mirrors the left portion, and a flap locatedcentric to the left portion and the right portion formed by cutting awaya section of the lower fabric portion. An opening in the upper fabricchamber is formed by securing a first straight edge of the left portionto a second straight edge of the right portion. A pocket in the lowerfabric chamber is formed by securing a first curved edge of the leftportion to a first side of the flap and by securing a second curved edgeof the right portion to a second side of the flap. An elastic band issecured along the outer surface of the periphery of the opening in theupper fabric chamber with a fastener.

These illustrative aspects and embodiments are mentioned not to limit ordefine the invention, but to provide examples to aid understanding ofthe inventive concepts disclosed in this application. Other aspects,advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparentafter review of the entire application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a profile view of a hair cover depicting an opening in theupper fabric chamber.

FIG. 2 is a profile view of the hair cover shown at a different anglethan that shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the hair cover depicting the upper fabricchamber.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the hair cover depicting the opening in theupper fabric chamber.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the hair cover depicting the opening in theupper fabric chamber.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the hair cover.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a fabric used to make the hair cover.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a band that attaches to the periphery ofthe opening in the upper fabric chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An exemplary hair cover 10 has an upper fabric chamber 20, a lowerfabric chamber 30, and an elastic band 12, as shown in FIG. 1. The lowerfabric chamber 30 can depend from the upper fabric chamber 20 to formone contiguous hair cover 10. Dotted line 24 represents a virtualseparation of the upper fabric chamber 20 and the lower fabric chamber30. The lower fabric chamber 30 is comprised of a left portion 715, aright portion 720, and a flap 725, as shown in FIG. 7.

The portions of the hair cover 10 can cooperate with one another suchthat they can be secured together using a fastener. “Secured,” “securedto,” or generally the act of securing can mean attaching, joining,coupling, or binding portions of the hair cover 10 to one another.Examples of various fasteners that can be used to secure the portionsare stitches, staples, glue, and tape.

FIGS. 1-4 depict an upper fabric chamber 20 having a generally domedshape for securing a wearer's hair. The upper fabric chamber 20 canadjust according to the shape and size of a wearer's head and the amountof hair thereon. The upper fabric chamber 20 can include an opening 25for receiving the wearer's head and hair. The opening 25 can have adiameter of approximately 15.75 inches according to an exemplaryembodiment.

The elastic band 12 can be secured to a periphery along the opening 25to expand and contract the opening 25 to receive and secure heads ofvarious sizes. In an exemplary embodiment, the wearer's hair can betucked into the lower fabric chamber 30 by the wearer pulling at least aportion of the band 12 away from the wearer's head to create a gap,while at least another portion of the band 12 is secured to the wearer'shead. In another embodiment, the opening 25 can be pulled apart with thewearer's hands first to receive the wearer's hair and thereafter toreceive the wearer's head. An exemplary configuration has an elasticband 12 with a length of about 25.5 inches and a width of about 2.5inches to provide such flexibility and interaction with the opening 25.

In one embodiment, the elastic band 12 can be manufactured by foldingthe band 80 shown in FIG. 8 along a longitudinal center line of the bandto create a left side and a right side of the band. An elastic materialcan be inserted between the left side and the right side of the band.The edges of the band can be secured by a fastener to enclose theelastic material within the band. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elasticband 12 can have a stitched line 16 that spans the length of the elasticband 12 to create ruffles in the band. An upper ruffled portion 14 and alower ruffled portion 18 can be used to grip the wearer's head.According to one embodiment, the elastic material can be inserted intothe upper ruffled portion 14 and/or the lower ruffled portion 18.Similarly, in another embodiment, a drawstring can be inserted into theupper ruffled portion 14 and/or the lower ruffled portion 18 to tightenor loosen the band 12 around the wearer's head. Still in anotherembodiment, a drawstring can be used in conjunction with an elasticmaterial. Under such a configuration, the elastic material can beinserted into either the upper or lower ruffled portion while thedrawstring can be inserted into the opposite portion to provide, forexample, additional security, adjustability, and comfort along thewearer's head. In embodiments in which a drawstring is used, the band 80can comprise one or more openings through which ends of the drawstringcan extend to be adjusted by a wearer's hands.

The elastic band 12 can be secured to the periphery of the opening 25with a fastener such that the fastener does not come in contact with thehair, thereby preventing hair breakage, or the separation of the hairfrom the head, where the elastic band 12 contacts the wearer's head. Inone embodiment, the fastener is secured to the outer surface 32 insteadof the inner surface 31 (as shown in FIG. 1) so that the fastener doesnot contact the wearer's head. In an exemplary embodiment, stitches areused to secure the band 12 to the periphery of the opening 25.

FIGS. 1,2, 5 and 6 depict a lower fabric chamber 30. In one embodiment,the lower fabric chamber 30 is elongated, or extends downward orotherwise outward to a distance away from the upper fabric chamber 20.Such a distance is represented by the length 50 in the figures. A longeror shorter version of the hair cover 10 may be created by increasing ordecreasing the length 50 of the lower fabric chamber 30. Such amodification can enable the lower fabric chamber 30 to receive andprotect hair of varying lengths.

The lower fabric chamber 30 can include a pocket 55. Horizontal line 34,as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, represents a virtual demarcation of an edgeof the pocket 55 within the lower fabric chamber 30. In one embodiment,the pocket 55 has a generally V-shape for receiving a generally V-shapedbody of hair. The V-shape of the pocket 55 can be a shape where thelength of a cross section of the pocket 55 decreases while traversing ina direction away from the upper fabric portion 705. The length of thecross section can decrease by a greater amount when measured closer tothe bottom of the pocket 55 such that the pocket 55 can have a roundededge at point 742 where a first side 740 meets a second side 744, asshown in FIG. 7. The first side 740 and the second side 744 of the flap725 can have a flatter or steeper angle to compress or expand thegeneral V-shape of the pocket 55.

The V-shaped pocket 55 can be especially suitable for relatively longhair that is braided so that the edges of the hair form a V-shape. Otherbraided hair styles such as synthetic hair extensions can have a V-shapeby design. The pocket 55 can also receive and protect hair of variousother types, shapes, and sizes, or can itself have various shapes andsizes for receiving and protecting the wearer's hair.

As shown in FIG. 7, the fabric 700 can be used to make the hair cover 10of FIGS. 5 and 6. The upper fabric portion 705 can meet the lower fabricportion 710 at point 730 along the left side of the fabric 700 and atpoint 732 along the right side of the fabric 700. Horizontal line 704represents a virtual separation of the upper fabric portion 705 and thelower fabric portion 710. The upper fabric portion 705 can include acentral arc 750 that is connected to a lower left arc 754 by a leftstraight edge 753 along the left side of the fabric 700. Along the rightside of the fabric 700, the central arc 750 can be connected to a lowerright arc 756 by a right straight edge 755. The arcs and straight edgescan form the periphery of the opening 25 in the upper fabric chamber 20(FIG. 5).

The lower fabric portion 710 can include a left portion 715, a rightportion 720, and a flap 725. A section of the lower fabric portion 710can be cut away or removed to form a generally V-shaped flap 725 locatedcentric to the left portion 715 and the right portion 720. The rightportion 720 can mirror the left portion 715. The left portion 715 canhave a first curved edge 738 for cooperating with a first side 740 ofthe flap 725. The right portion 720 can have a second curved edge 746for cooperating with a second side 744 of the flap. Cutting away thesection of the fabric can leave a gap between the left portion 715 andthe flap 725 whereby the gap increases while traversing along the firstcurved edge 715 in a direction away from the upper fabric portion 705. Asimilar gap can exist between the right portion 720 and the flap 725.The left portion 715 can have a first straight edge 736 joined at anangle to the curved edge 738. Similarly, the right portion 720 can havea second straight edge 748 joined at an angle to the second curved edge746.

In an exemplary embodiment, the fabric 700 can be approximately 30.75inches long along a longitudinal center line of the fabric 700 and atleast 15 inches wide across the broadest portion of the fabric portion710. The flap 725 can have a length of approximately 7.5 inches along alongitudinal center line, while the left portion 715 and the rightportion 720 can have a length of approximately 13.25 inches across itslongest cross section. Such a design requires relatively few stitches,which can reduce the amount of time required to manufacture the haircover 10.

The fabric 700 can be used to manufacture the hair cover 10. Accordingto one embodiment, the pocket 55 in the lower fabric chamber 30 (FIGS. 5and 6) can be formed by securing the first curved edge 738 of the leftportion 715 to the first side 740 of the flap 725, and by securing thesecond curved portion 746 of the right portion 720 to the second side744 of the flap 725. The opening in the upper fabric chamber 20 can beformed by securing the first straight edge 736 of the left portion 715to the second straight edge 748 of the right portion 720.

An exemplary embodiment of the hair cover 10 can protect a wearer's hairwhile being both durable and environmentally friendly. For example, thehair cover 10 can be manufactured from a biodegradable, cotton sateenfabric. Furthermore, cotton sateen can be gentle enough to protect awearer's hair while being durable enough to endure regular washings byhand, washing machine, or other cleaning apparatuses without losing itsintegrity. Other types of biodegradable materials that are washable byhand or machine can be used in other embodiments.

It should be understood that the foregoing relates only to certainembodiments of the invention, which are presented by way of examplerather than limitation. Numerous changes may be made to the embodimentsdescribed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Many other modifications, features, and embodiments of thepresent invention will become evident to those of skill in the art. Forexample, the hair cover 10, and the portions used to manufacture it, cancomprise various shapes, sizes, and materials. The hair cover 10 canalso receive various amounts, shapes, and types of hair. Various sizesand shapes of the fabric 700 and its portions can be used to manufacturethe hair cover 10. For example, the left portion 715 and the rightportion 720 can have fewer or more curved or straight edges.Additionally, the flap 725 can have a different size, shape, andorientation with the left portion 715 and the right portion 720.

Furthermore, various embodiments described herein use terms such as“left,” “right,” “upper,” and “lower.” These terms are used merely forconvenience and should not limit the orientation of any portion formingor within the hair cover 10. For example, a “right” portion can belocated on the “left” side of the fabric 700, depending on theorientation of the fabric 700.

1. A hair cover for protecting a wearer's hair while sleeping, the haircover comprising: an upper fabric chamber having a generally domed shapefor receiving a wearer's head; a lower fabric chamber depending from theupper fabric chamber for receiving and protecting a portion of thewearer's hair, the lower fabric chamber comprising a left portion havinga first straight edge secured to a second straight edge of a rightportion to form an opening in the upper fabric chamber, the lower fabricchamber further comprising a generally V-shaped flap having a first sidesecured to a first curved edge of the left portion and a second sidesecured to a second curved edge of the right portion to form a pocket,the pocket having a generally V-shape for receiving and protecting agenerally V-shaped body of hair; and an elastic band secured to an outersurface of a periphery of the opening in the upper fabric chamber by afastener such that the fastener does not contact the hair.
 2. The haircover of claim 1 wherein the elastic band comprises an upper ruffledportion and a lower ruffled portion for gripping the wearer's head. 3.The hair cover of claim 2 wherein the elastic band further comprises astitched line along a longitudinal center line of the elastic band, thestitched line creating the upper ruffled portion and the lower ruffledportion.
 4. The hair cover of claim 2 wherein an elastic material isinserted into at least one of the upper ruffled portion or the lowerruffled portion of the elastic band.
 5. The hair cover of claim 2wherein a drawstring is inserted into at least one of the upper ruffledportion or the lower ruffled portion.
 6. The hair cover of claim 1wherein the lower fabric chamber is elongated.
 7. The hair cover ofclaim 1 wherein the hair cover fabric comprises cotton sateen.
 8. Thehair cover of claim 1 wherein the hair cover comprises a biodegradablematerial.
 9. A method for making a hair cover for protecting a wearer'shair while sleeping, the method comprising: a. providing a fabric, thefabric comprising: i. an upper fabric portion having a generally domedshape, the upper fabric portion used to form an upper fabric chamber forreceiving a wearer's head; and ii. a lower fabric portion depending fromthe upper fabric portion, the lower fabric portion used to form a lowerfabric chamber for receiving and protecting a portion of the wearer'shair; b. cutting away a section of the lower fabric portion such thatthe lower fabric portion comprises a V-shaped flap located centric to aleft portion and a mirrored right portion, the left portion having afirst curved edge for cooperating with a first side of the flap and theright portion having a second curved edge for cooperating with a secondside of the flap; c. securing a first straight edge of the left portionto a second straight edge of the right portion to form an opening in theupper fabric chamber; d. securing the first curved edge of the leftportion to the first side of the flap and securing the second curvededge of the right portion to the second side of the flap to form apocket for receiving and protecting a wearer's hair, the pocket having agenerally V-shape; and e. securing a band along a periphery of theopening in the upper fabric chamber by using a fastener such that thefastener does not contact the wearer's hair.
 10. The method of claim 9further comprising stitching along a longitudinal center line of theband to separate the band into an upper ruffled portion and a lowerruffled portion.
 11. The method of claim 9 further comprising insertingan elastic material into at least one of the lower ruffled portion orthe upper ruffled portion of the band.
 12. The method of claim 9 furthercomprising inserting a drawstring into at least one of the upper ruffledportion of the band or the lower ruffled portion of the band.
 13. Themethod of claim 9 wherein the band is secured to the outer surface ofthe periphery of the opening in the upper fabric chamber.
 14. The methodof claim 9 wherein the lower fabric chamber is elongated.
 15. The methodof claim 9 wherein the fabric comprises cotton sateen.
 16. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the fabric comprises a biodegradable material.
 17. Themethod of claim 9 wherein the securing comprises stitching.
 18. A fabrichair cover for protecting a wearer's hair while sleeping, the hair covercomprising: an upper fabric portion used to form an upper fabric chamberfor receiving the wearer's head, the upper fabric portion having agenerally domed-shape; and a lower fabric portion depending from theupper fabric portion, the lower fabric portion used to form a lowerfabric chamber for receiving and protecting a portion of the wearer'shair, the lower portion comprising a left portion having a first curvededge for cooperating with a first side of a flap, and a right portionhaving a second curved side for cooperating with a second side of theflap, the flap located centric to the left portion and the right portionand having a generally V-shape.
 19. The fabric hair cover of claim 18wherein the fabric comprises cotton sateen.
 20. The fabric hair cover ofclaim 18 wherein the fabric comprises a biodegradable material.